Head of finance and central services jobs

Join our team as Director of Education, helping us to support teachers, champion great teaching and raise the status of the profession. The Director of Education will advocate for the need for a strong professional body and its importance to teachers and leaders. The role will articulate the vision and ethos of the Chartered College of Teaching and inspire and empower internal and external stakeholders and the teaching profession to achieve the vision. The role will lead the growth of three core income streams: Chartered Status, membership and funded projects, and will represent the Chartered College of Teaching externally and grow our strategic networks. The role will advise on the education content of our external communications. The Director of Education will work with the Executive Leadership Team to develop and oversee implementation of the organisation’s strategy and to lead the Education Directorate to deliver the strategy. In association with other members of the Executive Leadership and Senior Management teams the role will advise on partnerships, funded education projects, policy, events, publishing and content, marketing and communications.

Unfortunately, we are unable to consider applicants based outside of the UK at this time.

For a short audio description of this role and the full application pack, please visit our website.

The Organisation

The Chartered College of Teaching is a charity and the professional body for teachers. We are working to empower a knowledgeable and respected teaching profession through membership and accreditation.

We are dedicated to bridging the gap between practice and research and equipping teachers from the moment they enter the classroom with the knowledge and confidence to make the best decisions for their pupils.

Our activities mainly focus on four key areas:

● membership

● Chartered study, professional learning and accreditation

● research, policy and events

● online and print resources

Since opening membership in 2017, we have grown rapidly. In total our work reaches over 40,000 teachers and more than 3.6 million young people. We are a growing and multi-skilled team of 30 people, supported by a Board with a significant track record of experience in a range of fields. Our business plan focuses on growing membership and Chartered Status, strategic positioning of the College in the education sector, and providing meaningful professional learning opportunities for the teaching profession.

The Opportunity

This is an excellent opportunity to make a real impact. You will have overall accountability for the Education and Research directorate, including accreditation, partnerships, research, events and policy, funded projects, publishing and content and marketing and communication. We are recruiting a dedicated individual who believes in the Chartered College of Teaching’s mission and is committed to leading our growth. 

This would be an ideal opportunity for an ambitious  individual to inspire and empower stakeholders and the teaching profession to achieve the Chartered College of Teaching’s mission. You will:

•  have autonomy for leading the Education and Research Directorate;
• enjoy speaking at events and advocating for the need for a strong professional body;
• work collaboratively with many of the team across the charity, supporting the growth of partnerships in the sector;
• be part of the team driving the organisation forward at an exciting time for the future of the College.

Lead the growth of Chartered Status and membership; advocate for and represent the College; grow strategic networks

• Provide keynote speeches as required for the Chartered College of Teaching, building on teaching experience and practice. Attend and contribute as required at speaking events, important functions, sector events and meetings across the country
• Develop and manage senior strategic relationships with the DfE, devolved governments, other sector bodies as directed by the CEO
• Exemplify the importance of professional learning, especially sustained enquiry leading to validation e.g Masters, PhD study, Chartered routes
• Maintain detailed understanding of the wider education policy landscape and support our Public Relations dept in commenting to the media
• Lead the College’s income growth from funded projects, seeking new opportunities and work with the Deputy CEO and Director of Finance to ensure that new opportunities have robust commercial model
• Support management of relationships with funders at the highest level in partnership with the CEO and Deputy CEO

Organisational Planning & Strategy

• Work with the Executive Leadership Team to shape the organisational business plan, in partnership with Executive Leadership Team colleagues and Council, supported by a clear budget and plan for income generation
• Lead the implementation of the strategy, ensuring that KPIs are met / action is taken to course correct, and provide day-to-day guidance and long-term strategic direction for all employees within the College
• Oversee the College’s existing and new products and services, ensuring that they are of the highest standard, and are informed by research and impact evaluation

Leadership

• Advise on the education content of external communications
• Provide overall accountability and leadership in a range of areas including membership, publishing, content, research, Chartered status and other professional learning and accreditation
• Report to the Council as required and be the Executive Leadership Team representative for relevant committees, and ensure they have the reports and data needed to make informed decisions for the College 
• Provide leadership and development of individuals within the team, including setting clear objectives, responsibilities, performance standards and development goals and managing these accordingly – through informal coaching and feedback and formal discussions including regular one to ones and appraisals

About You

The Director of Education will be passionate about the purpose, vision and mission of the Chartered College of Teaching, including the growth of membership and accreditation, and the importance of high-quality education and research content. You will understand the importance of the College taking a balanced position (beyond ideology) and be able to link our existing content to our members’ needs. You will have gravitas with external stakeholders and be energised by developing and maintaining strong external networks within the education sector and with new and existing funders.

You do not need to have expertise in absolutely all areas, let us decide! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and encourage applications from global majority candidates to diversify our workforce. We’re looking for someone that is motivated by our vision and is passionate about leading our growth.

Experience and knowledge

Essential

• Teaching expertise - experience of working with teachers and school leaders in a range of contexts, ideally with a focus on professional learning
• Highly credible, increasingly respected profile (including in public speaking) and a strong network within the education sector
• Experience of building and maintaining strong external relationships 
• Significant professional experience including a senior leadership role and interactions with board level executives or equivalent 
• Ability to motivate and inspire the whole staff team to consistently deliver quality services and develop a high-performance culture
• Be future focused able to make strategic decisions and deliver capabilities ahead of business requirements as well as in response to them

Desirable

• Strong academic skills e.g. at PhD / Masters level or Chartered Teacher Status
• An appreciation of the drivers of company profitability and cost management
• Experience of financial management, risk management and strategic business planning
• Experience of successfully identifying and securing funding bids
• Experience of successfully leading the delivery of multidisciplinary projects, programmes or organisational initiatives of significant size or impact
• A publication portfolio

Skills

• Excellent and adaptable communication skills
• Strong autonomy and accountability 
• Strategic thinker and results-driven
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Good attention to detail
• Excellent influencing and negotiating skills
• Articulate, and literate – able to express complex concepts both verbally and written down
• Highly effective organisational skills, with ability to manage a very demanding and varied workload 
• Calm and resilient with a warm sense of humour and ability to work well under pressure 
• Highly numerate (desirable)

Why Us?

As an organisation we care deeply about creating a working environment that supports our people to grow personally and professionally. These are reflected in our organisational values which outline the distinctive working culture we are looking to create. In particular, these values are reflected in our commitment to: 

• Flexible working: responsive management, flexible hours, hybrid or fully remote working 
• Professional development, including formal and informal training and support 
• Transparency and ownership: we have an open culture that ensures all staff guide our strategic direction 
• Mental health and wellbeing: access to health and wellbeing advice and health cash plan.

Diversity and inclusion at the Chartered College 

As a growing organisation we are committed to:

• Becoming increasingly representative of the sector and geographies that we operate in
• Providing a positive experience of work as part of an inclusive culture led by our organisational values 
• Maintaining an annual EDI action plan - led by the internal team. 

What to expect from the recruitment process

• All applications are anonymised until the point of interview
• Line Managers trained in recognising bias
• We implement a standardised interview template and competencies matrix for a fair and transparent process
• Online interviews are conducted via Zoom and the use of camera is optional.

For more information about joining the Chartered College, please watch this short video from Dame Alison Peacock (CEO).

Your Personal Data

As part of the recruitment process, the Chartered College of Teaching collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants. The organisation is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations.

Pre-employment checks

All conditional offers of employment are subject to:

• Two satisfactory references
• Proof of qualifications
• Eligibility to work in the UK.

We are an employer committed to the safeguarding of children and young people.